Noob

[NathanM06]

Hello everyone,

I'm 16 years old, a senior in high school and I've been looking into ball pythons. Turtles and tortoises are my passion, and I will always feel that way, but snakes are awesome. Additionally, I think that they could provide a good foundation for genetic work with turtles and tortoises, and just breeding as a whole.

The first thing I'd like to know is how I should set them up. I was thinking I'd just go to the store and get a couple of those metal storage racks, and then use heat cord to serve as the heat source. I would also have to get some thermostats for them obviously. I would fill the rack up with a assorted bins based on the animals I'm getting.

I have a few questions though:
1.) what all do I need? I imagine I'll need forceps, a scale, hides and tub supplies, and something to supplement humidity. I have a lot of this as I work with the chelonians.

2.) Food supplier and price? I could look this up but I don't know the exact diet of the animals. How often should I feed?

3.) Workload? I'm not trying to get out of anything, so be honest with me. I'm planning to start up a small chelonian breeding business and so if it's going to drastically hinder my available time, let me know. I'll be in college, working, and taking care of the animals.

4.) I'll have to figure out genetics, but what would be some good morphs to start with? And what is the system for breeding as in female rotations and such.

If iyou think this is a dumb idea, tell me. I don't want to just dive into it, I would like to slowly progress from keeping to breeding and then expanding. Another note is that reptile breeding won't be my main job, so it's not like I'm just trying to get a huge group. I'm just interested in them. Ideally, one day I would have lots of turtles and tortoises, and then a larger than average collection of snakes and amphibians, but who knows. Thanks.

[Jeanne]

Go read caresheet on this site. It will tell u wht u wnt to know.

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[Jeanne]

1st learn how to care for them properly and successfully Bfor you think about breeding. Baby steps.

Research, research, research..and then ask questions too.

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[Jeanne]

Rodentpro.com
Bigcheese

Both are rodent suppliers.. Research. Google frozen rodent suppliers.

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[Jeanne]

And lastly...dnt get into too many things at once..u will overwhelm urself..and this hobby can be expensive..whether its snakes or turtles..or lizards... Perhaps pick chelonians or ball pythons..one at a time and get good at it before taking on other projects.

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[anthroterra]

It's hard to choose what morphs to start with, and it mostly comes down to price and what you like. I'm partial to mystic potions and bananas, but that's just me. See what strikes you and go from there: you can find almost anything online from breeders like Royal Constrictor Designs and many others. I'm not sure what your future plans are, so consider the hassle of moving a collection in a few years too. Perfect prey is another good food supplier.

[dr del]

Here is a link to the caresheet to help you get started - once you decide what type of setup you want we can give more specific advice.

[redshepherd]

Just to answer a couple of the other questions- for food suppliers, Big Cheese Rodent Factory is a good one. I ordered four times so far, and their rats/mice are always clean, tightly packed, and within the right size range.

Avoid Rodent Pro... I ordered once and got a loose bag full of kinda dirty and partially thawed rats. :\ Quality just could not compare to Big Cheese.

Ball pythons are really HARDLY any workload at all, in my opinion. Once you do your research and get their husbandry right, I'd say most pet snake species are the lowest maintenance pets I've ever owned, and I've owned a wide variety of animals big and small. Ball pythons eat once a week, poop once a month or two, maybe pee every other week. Change their water bowl every 2 days or so. That's really it... Easy!

They're also clean and dry and not smelly. I don't know why more people don't own these guys.

I was planning on only one ball python originally, then realized he was so low-maintenance and took so little of my time, that I wanted to spend MORE time on snakes. So I got a few more, and it's still very little time to care. LOL

[NathanM06]

After college my plans are to find a job around here as an environmental manager or biologist, and between then and now I plan to just go to school, work a part time job, and develop my turtle and tortoise business so it's nice to know that they aren't a lot of work.

I'll look into the morphs.

I I plan on getting 2 wire shelving units and using heat cord as the source with a Vivarium thermostat. I'll use one for snakes and the other for turtle and tortoise hatchlings once they come, but I can dedicate a row to snake hatchlings if need be. I plan on just using large tubs for all sizes just so I don't have to continually upgrade and evolve according to my numbers, is that an okay thing to do? I figure I'll just get some bowls based on snakes size, some paper towel for substrate, and a hide of some sort. I'll feed accordingly once a week as he said, and clean as needed.

For breeding, I'll probably buy babies and raise them up to sze, and then just put some together and see what happens. How long do ball pythons take to mature? And I believe I'm going to pick up a mini fridge and convert it into an incubator sometime soon, so that'll be ready. Thanks.

[redshepherd]

I plan on just using large tubs for all sizes just so I don't have to continually upgrade and evolve according to my numbers, is that an okay thing to do?

For breeding, I'll probably buy babies and raise them up to sze, and then just put some together and see what happens. How long do ball pythons take to mature? And I believe I'm going to pick up a mini fridge and convert it into an incubator sometime soon, so that'll be ready. Thanks.

Hatchlings most likely would need smaller tubs to suit them, since they more easily feel insecure in large places. If you clutter up your large tub with fake leaves and multiple hiding spots, it would work.

Females take 2.5+ years to mature, or even longer. Better to wait for a female to mature than to breed a heavy but young female too early, which could result in dangers that you don't want, for both the female and the possible eggs.

Males can be bred at ~1 year old and at least 700g. Some breed them smaller and younger, but general consensus is that it's safer to breed at least at this age and weight.